Leinster claimed what was a convincing victory in the end over Munster the last time the two sides met at Aviva Stadium.

It wasn’t plain-sailing by any means, however, as Munster took a 6-7 lead in the 26th-minute thanks to Peter O’Mahony’s converted try.

Less than 10 minutes later Isa Nacewa went over in the corner for Leinster’s first try of the game to give the province an 11-7 lead at the break.

It took 14 second half minutes for Munster’s resistance to break, and once it did Leinster began to pull away.

Nacewa scored his second try of the game, converted by Sexton, to make it 18-7, with Jamison Gibson-Park capitalising on a defensive mix up after Robbie Henshaw kicked into space behind the Munster line to score a try on his Aviva debut.

Munster scored a consolation try with six minutes to go through Jaco Taute, though neither would claim a bonus point before the 80-minutes were up.

In a game short on try-scoring opportunities, most of the excitement was packed into a breathless final five minutes as Leinster came out on top thanks to 16 points from Johnny Sexton and a late 14-man stand on our own try-line.

It was a game of two out-halves as Sexton and his Munster counterpart Johnny Holland scored all of the 29 points.

Sexton went over in the 36th-minute and converted his try for a 10-6 Leinster lead at the break.

However, Holland scored the contest’s second try just after half-time to swing the game in Munster’s favour.

Two more penalties from Sexton put Leinster back in the lead, but in the end this one all came down to a frenetic finish with Munster camped on Leinster’s line.

Munster could have settled for a draw and taken a straightforward penalty, but why settle for two points when four are on offer – and the small matter of victory over your greatest rival in their own backyard?

With Cian Healy in the sin bin Leinster defended ferociously with 14 men until finally Jamie Heaslip put a tackle in on Mike Sherry and Ben Te’o followed up to force the knock-on. The relief and the roar were huge.

There was a double injury blow for Leinster in the build up to the October 2014 meeting with Munster at the Aviva as Cian Healy and Seán O’Brien were both ruled out for extended periods before the game.

However, the southern province were good value for their win on the day, with three first half tries from James Cronin, Robin Copeland and Ian Keatley’s intercept, combined with three penalties, giving them a commanding 9-28 half-time lead.

The second half saw four yellow cards shown to Munster players as Leinster began to mount a comeback with a try from Darragh Fanning and a penalty try awarded in the space of seven minutes, either side of another Keatley penalty.

Coming into the closing stages Leinster were within eight points of Munster, but a JJ Hanrahan penalty four minutes from the end closed out the game, ending a 13-match winning streak in the PRO12 for Leinster at the Lansdowne Road venue.

Fittingly, on his final Lansdowne Road appearance, Brian O’Driscoll was the difference between the two sides when Leinster defeated Munster towards the end of the 2013/14 season – which would end with a second successive PRO12 title.

A sold out Aviva Stadium witnessed O’Driscoll’s second half effort, but the try by no means signalled the end of the contest – far from it.

Munster led 6-12 at the half, with Ian Madigan and Ian Keatley exchanging kicks at goal.

Madigan drew the sides level in the second half before O’Driscoll’s converted effort made it 19-12 in Leinster’s favour.

Keatley kicked another two penalties to make it 19-18 with three minutes to go, but it was Madigan who got the final score of the contest with a 79th-minute penalty making sure of a 22-18 victory on O’Driscoll and Leo Cullen’s final appearances at Lansdowne Road.

This one started with a bang at Aviva Stadium as Richardt Strauss and Peter O’Mahony went over for a try each inside the opening six minutes.

A pair of penalties from Ronan O’Gara either side of a Johnny Sexton effort gave Munster a 10-11 lead after 15 minutes, but it was Leinster who would cross the whietwash next, Ian Madigan going over, with Sexton’s conversion making it 17-11.

Sexton and O’Gara once again exchanged penalties before the break to make it 20-14 at half-time.

The sides continued to keep pace with each other as a Leinster try from O’Driscoll was followed by one from Conor Murray, but Munster couldn’t find another score to move them within bonus point territory.